


Shutting down

by syusuke



Series: Batfamily short fics [3]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU
Genre: Anxiety, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Jason is a Good Friend, Tim Drake is Red Robin, Tim needs a break, Tim needs a hug, Trust Issues, bad coping, bottled up fears, hurt building up, tim gets overwhelmed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-17
Updated: 2018-02-17
Packaged: 2019-03-20 10:53:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13716162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/syusuke/pseuds/syusuke
Summary: It wasn't the first time that Tim's mind shut down. But today he managed to ask for help. Can he accept it though? He is already regretting the silent call.





	Shutting down

_Can you come over? I don’t want to be alone._

 

Jason fished the cell out of his pocket. He immediately felt the worry take over. It was rare for Tim to text him. They heard from each other every night on the comms and had even taken to shared patrols once or twice a week. Jason had just gotten back to his safe house after running some errands. He honestly just wanted to crash and sleep off the exhaustion of the last few days. Instead he tried calling Tim. No answer.

 

Suddenly he got a location alarm, a bright red dot where Tim’s nest was. The nest, not his appartement. With a heavy sigh Jason gathered his civilian clothes, hesitantly he also went for his fresh groceries. He was really hungry and he might as well cook for them. It wasn’t that far, probably a 15 minute ride.

When Jason arrived at the hide-out, the security was severly lowered. The alarms weren’t active, only the cameras followed him steadily as he approached the main entry. He started typing his code in, but the door slid open before he could finish.

 

“Red? Where are you? Come on, Tim. This place is huge.”

 

It remained quiet. Jason could hardly see where he was going. The lights were off and only a few dimmed monitors helped him navigate. Strangely enough, Tim wasn’t working in any of the usual places. So Jason finally made his way to the living quarters, there was still no light. He started to wonder, if Tim was even here. Someone must have broken in then?

There! Movement to his right. Jason slowly approached the dark room, someone was sitting on the floor, slightly rocking back and forth.

 

“Tim? Babybird! Are you okay? What’s going on here?”

The moment he realised it was Tim, he reached out. Tentatively, touching his shoulder, trying to coax him to look up, to stop hiding his face behind his knees. He was wearing a suit. Jason raked his brain for any hint of trouble at WE, but came up short. There had been a public speech today. However, that had been good news. WE had taken a great risk and opened a new branch of the research departement in San Francisco. A branch that Tim would run entirely to his own wishes. Bruce had given him permission to do research in whatever field he wanted and even given the all clear for leaving the daily business of WE to Bruce again. That was all good wasn’t it? It meant a break for Tim Drake-Wayne, the youngest CEO in the whole US.

He missed the whisper entirely the first time. Only when Tim managed to look at him he heard it.

“I haven’t been okay for a long time.”

 

Jason took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. He felt the rage build inside, but he couldn’t lose his temper now. Not with Tim looking at him, as if there was nothing left for him. Looking so utterly lost. The sparkle in his eyes was gone, no more overexcited sassy detective. The man in front of him might have the appearance of Tim, but none of his spirit. He felt... empty.

 

“..sorry. You don’t need to.. I can... I’ll be fine till patrol.”

“Not leaving. Get up, We’ll get you into something more comfortable.”

 

Words were not his strength, Jason knew all too well. So he did what he could. He pulled Tim to his feet. The younger didn’t resist, but he also didn’t exactly help. He just let Jason manhandle him. On second thought Jason just picked him up. He braced himself for the weight, but found Tim to be even lighter than Damian.

“Hold on. Where’s your bedroom?”

 

Tim held on to Jason’s neck, pointing to his room with the other hand. Luckily, it was right across the hall. Jason could even see a small screen lighting up the bedside table. It was a little strange how Tim clung to him. Usually Tim was the one who avoided physical contact if possible. So Jason didn’t even try to put Tim down on the bed, but just sat down with him, holding him close. He absentmindedly stroke his back, humming lowly as Tim hid his face at Jason’s collar bone. The phone was still the only light source, but Jason’s eyes slowly got used to it. 9 missed calls, 23 unread messages. He blinked. Did he miss something? Just what happened this morning?

 

“Wanna change? Get you a little more comfy?”

The younger boy nuzzled into his neck. Jason waited patiently, calling on every ounce of common sense left in him. He shouldn’t force anything now. Tim had obviously experienced something traumatic to be this shaken. They sat there for a few minutes, before Tim started to move again. Trembling fingers tried to get the tie off, fumbling, failing. Jason wordlessly stopped him, instead loosening the tie himself. He pulled it off, proceeding with the suit jacket and starting to unbutton the dress shirt. Jason made sure to be gentle and tell Tim what he was going to do. He didn’t miss how his babybird started trembling even worse with every piece of clothing that came off.

Jason was rummaging through the drawers for some sweats when his phone rang. He saw Tim flinch violently. It was Dick. Dick was calling him. He pushed it away. He found some sweat pants and gave up the search for a hoodie. As he saw Tim putting on the sweats, he decided it wouldn’t do. Jason pulled of his own well-worn hoodie and helped Tim into it. Tim’s eyes widened, but there was no way to hide how his trembling eased up a bit. He hugged Jason close, burying his face in the broad chest. Strong arms pulled him even closer.

 

“Tim, you don’t have to, but what happened? Who did this to you?”

He wanted an answer. He wanted to know who to blame, who to fucking kill.

No words came. Just the harsh gulps of barely swallowed sobs. Jason held the boy up against him. It didn’t matter that he could feel the wetness at his chest, or that the desperate grip was sure to leave bruises on his back. All of them had their low points. All of them had broken down at some point, alone or with their family, sometimes with another team. Jason knew the insecurities and self-worth issues that haunted Tim. He knew them all too well. But he had always respected the younger’s boundaries, had never pushed to talk about it. Never tried to ease the pain by sharing his own experiences, by simple being there.

 

The sound of “Sexy back” disturbed the quiet. Jason noticed Tim’s cell ringing, an outrageously aweful picture of Dick on the screen. He felt Tim tense and taking deep breaths. Then the younger went to pick it up. He forced himself to smile.

“Hey Dick, anything you need?... No, I’m fine. Sorry bout that, I was sleeping. Aww come on, it’s not that big a deal. By the way, I totally owned him... Actually, I kinda already asked Jason to patrol with me. Another time?... Mhm, yeeeah. I’m sure. Bye.”

 

Jason watched silently. He had suspected this. For quite some time. There was a reason why Tim usually did the undercover stuff. The image of Tim, tears still dripping down his face, hair sticking up everywhere and still trembling, was a brutal contrast to the cheerful tone he had pulled off with Dick. If not for the fact that he saw the misery before him, Jason would have had no way to get even a hint of it from the phone call. Even while knowing it and trying to hear something, he didn’t. Tim was too good at this manipulation thing. As soon as he hung up, he started sobbing violently. Probably too drained to control it any longer. Jason felt his control slipping, he couldn’t help himself. There was no going back.

 

“Tim, come with me. This is not helping. I’ll cook us dinner. Then we’ll eat and have some of Alfred’s jasmine tea. We will watch a movie and I’ll hold you close as long as you want. And you will NEVER tell me to leave or to let you deal with this alone. Understood? You’ll let me take care of you.”

Jason knelt in front of Tim who was sitting on the bed. He softly pulled the hands away from his face, trying to catch his gaze. Tim was falling apart, not trying to swallow his sobs anymore, shaking like he wanted to shed his skin. When he finally focused on Jason’s eyes, he tried to talk. Tried to ask why he was doing it, why he would go through all this trouble for him. Jason seemed to understand anyway.

“I want to take care of you. I want to, okay? Please babybird, let me.”

It was only the slightest nod, but it was enough.

 

In the batfamily there was the unspoken truth that after Alfred, Jason was the best cook. When it came to dishes like lasagne or focaccia bread Alfred even admitted to preferring Jason’s. So Jason had made sure to sit Tim down in the kitchen with him. He had even given him his leather jacket when he didn’t stop shaking. Now Tim was sitting at the kitchen table, wearing a hoodie and the leather jacket that were at least two sizes too big for him. The room slowly filled with the heavenly smell of carbonara sauce made from scratch.

Tim wasn’t crying anymore, he was watching Jason, absentmindedly clinging to the jacket. They ate in silence. Jason urged Tim to eat seconds, filling his plate again without waiting for an answer. Jason was cleaning the kitchen efficiently, finishing only a little later than Tim. The younger opened his mouth, but was cut off abruptly.

“If you’re going to say, you’re fine now. Forget it. I’m not buying it. And I’m not leaving. You can set up the movie while I make tea.”

 

When Jason came into the living room with steaming mugs everything was ready. Tim had even gotten extra pillows and blankets and arranged them into a sort of nest. He had taken off the jacket and slipped underneath a blanket that he held open for Jason now. The older smiled at him. As unusual as this was, he could get used to a cuddly Tim. They shifted around a bit, until Jason had enough and pulled Tim into his lap. He softly pushed soft locks into the crook of his neck and held him there, delicately brushing through the unruly hair.

Of course, Tim had tensed up at that. But as soon as the nails softly scraped his scalp, he gave in. He almost went boneless, melting against the warmth and comfort of Jason.

 

 

Tim woke up to voices. Familiar voices. One almost whispering, a little rough. The other sounded tired, talking too fast.

He kept his eyes closed though. He was warm, comfortable, safe.

 

“...Give him some space. No, dickhead... He barely said two sentences, apart from your call. I KNOW... jesus, I know. Just get the others to back off. Let me handle this.... fine. Bye.”

Jason put the phone away. He pulled Tim a little closer. He hesitated for a split second, then he pressed his nose into the dark mop of hair.

“I’m sorry, Timmy. I didn’t know. We.. I want you. I’ll always want you. You’re not a failure.”

 

“...you don’t mean that.”

 

Jason flinched. He hadn’t noticed the younger was awake.

Tim was still hiding his face in Jason’s chest. He didn’t try to move away. His body betraying him, showing what his voice didn’t. He was lying.

“I’m okay. You don’t need to do this. I can get by alone just fine. It’s not a big deal. I should start preparing everything, Tim Wayne is moving to San Fran tomorrow. I can make it just before the news get out and the paparazzi start hunting me down.”

 

“Shut up – don’t do that. I know you too well. It won’t work. I’m not as naive as Dick, or as ignorant as Bruce. You announced to step back as the CEO of WE today. Being the idiot you are, you made sure to be caught on camera while a business partner groped you. You made a scandal to taint the other dude, but it reflects on you too. Nobody will ever take you seriously as a businessman again, if you’re not doing something about it. You did the public speech after being up for just about 60 hours. You were exhausted physically and mentally, but you went through with it. You left in a hurry after the groping and hid in the penthouse. But Dick was waiting for you and wanted to talk about the Robin issue. You pretended to be okay with it, the idiot even believed it. But after he left you got restless and decided to work some cases and came here. So my guess is, when you came in here, in this place you designed yourself to fit you perfectly, you finally relaxed a little and that was enough for the whole shit you’ve been bottling up these last few months to come crashing down around you... and I am so glad you texted me.”

Jason had a hard time controlling his emotions. There was a deep sadness, anger towards Dick, pure hatred for the groping basterd, but also a deep longing to help. His stupid babybird, the smallest scrawniest of them all, always putting himself in harms way physically and emotionally, just to spare them. The true detective thinking ten steps ahead and sacrificing whatever’s needed to shield them. Always putting himself last.

 

The small hand came up to rest over Jason’s heart. It squeezed lightly.

 

“Tim. You probably want me gone, build up your walls again, blocking us all out. Please don’t. We’re already here, aren’t we? Let me spoil you a little.”

 

“Okay, Jay.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry. I love Tim, I really do. But this is just something that I can see happening?  
> Or rather, he'd usually deal with the worst of it on his own.. maybe with the shared experiences he'd talk to the titans. But stuff he did alone? Can't really see him talking with the batfam. Especially not in that tender time, just after Bruce comes back. I think he'd want to talk to Bruce, but can't bring himself to bother him with it. He still doesn't really trust Dick again and Damian isn't even an option.  
> So in his desperation he texts Jason, not really expecting a reaction. And even afterwards, he's almost ashamed to ask for anything. So he tries to make him leave.... yeah... Hope you liked it!


End file.
